USGA Planning U.S. Open Viewing Party At Grand Central Station

USGA Planning To Hold U.S. Open Viewing Party In Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt Hall

The USGA is "planning a U.S. Open viewing party in New York City's Grand Central Station during the first half of the four-day tournament," scheduled for June 18-21 at Bethpage State Park, according to Jon Show of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The "estimated 500,000 commuters that pass through the station's Vanderbilt Hall each day will be met with large-format HD televisions on the Thursday and Friday of tournament week." During "down times the USGA will run vignettes on the history of golf to promote its recently refurbished museum" in Far Hills, New Jersey, next to the USGA's HQs. The setup in Grand Central Station "will also include a golf simulator that will allow fans to play an offline version of the inaugural Virtual U.S. Open Championship." There are "plans to erect bleachers and a spectator area in order to give the feel of watching a live tournament." Visitors also "will be able to buy U.S. Open merchandise, the first time the USGA has sold the gear anywhere besides the host course or its USOpen.com." Show notes the viewing party "replaces a wider-scale effort that had been planned last fall by Golf magazine, which approached the USGA about staging a two-week golf experience in Central Park that included a re-creation of Bethpage Black's 17th green and big-screen coverage of the U.S. Open" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/6 issue).